Hopes Dashed on the crest of the Blue Ridge

After a long week, I was looking forward to a long road ride this Sunday.

My hopes.. minimum of 80 miles but hoping for 100. Plus, I was throwing in some more climbing compared to my last long road ride, 80 mile round trip to Blacksburg.

The plan, head out to exit 150 area and up hwy 11. Follow the turn for the bicentinnial 76 bike trail through Nace et all and arrive in Buchannan for a rest stop. Turn and climb 43 up to the parkway and head south back to roanoke. Depending on how I felt, the end of ride options were varied distances from Mill Mtn to Poages Mill extension and maybe an end-of-ride climb on the Roanoke Mtn loop.

The ride started well with dodging spotty showers and a floating fast pace, 20 - 30 mph, along the valley to Buchannan. That's were things went a bit dodgey. I arrived at noon, just in time to be plagued by high traffic and a really crowded Exxon Food Mart. Not being one for crowded areas, a stretched a bit, passed on topping off / diluting my not so empty water bottles (the crucial mistake?) and started the 5 mile climb to the parkway. The climb went well, but without my slightly-slower-at-climbing riding partner of last year, Mark the Fire Monkey, I found myself with no apparrent need to pause at the Parkway and quickly realized the climb actually continues at a good rise once on the Parkway. I tried to settle into a slightly slower pace and started looking for a good rest area. Who would have figured that without a full budding of the leaves in this area would leave me without shade... anywhere. I tried to keep sipping the drink mix in the bottles, but the stomach started talking back. Seems the stomach wasn't processing the heavier mixed drink mix or my snacks very well. - Remember I didn't dilute them in Buchannan? - Maybe its just that area of the earth... and it doesn't like me? I seem to have a bit of history with that area.

Things started going downhill as I seemed to keep heading uphill. Not to mention, the traffic was heavier on the Parkway than anywhere else as of yet in the ride. Energy sapping, close driving cars, and no shade were all taking its toll on me. I kept searching for a shaded rest area, but no luck. 60 miles hit, and so did the Man w/ the Hammer. I stopped at a bridge overpass and layed down for a rest... of about 15 minutes. Somebody actually threw a glass bottle while I was trying to recover. Being on the other side of the road, at least it wasn't thrown at me but at the rock of the bridge.

Getting back on the bike was Hard. Both physically and mentall, my hopes and goals for the day had been dashed on the crest of the Blue Ridge. My goal now... just make it home. Despite the nausia and sore legs, I did make it back, but at a very slow pace. The total trip was just short of 75 miles. I almost puked at an intersection close to home when some really smelly exhaust drove by. (its amazing what that Antique License plate lets you get away with.)

I spent the next four or five hours recovering with rehydration, calories, a dazed state of collapse on the bed, and a cup of coffee to quell that lack-of-caffine headache.

Lessons learned... Don't mix my bottles so heavy; so I can drink more effectively. Take more rest / stretch breaks. Keep riding and throw in some more climbing training. - Mountains of Misery is about a month away.

The up side... I finished the ride and made it home. Not to mention, even when I felt really crappy today, I really enjoyed / appreciated the smoothness and handling of my current bike, a custom Serotta Nove - carbon and titanium, over my previous road bike, a stock aluminum Giant TCR2.

Oh yeah, 'hello' to all the folks that waved and said hello to me in my state of collapse. It was good to see other folks enjoying their rides.

Cheers to Joanne!

Congratulations to my friend, Joanne of Edinburgh, Scotland. She has recently completed a half marathon and has plans for more. More importantly, though, Joanne enjoys riding her bicycle as well! Cheers, Joanne, and many more happy runs and rides :-)

sense of achievement?

Finally breaking down, along with the elastic and material of my first bib shorts, I have ordered a new pair. Maybe it was last cyclocross season that finished off my collegiate riding / racing Virginia Tech Cycling Team kit bibs. Non the less, after a few good rides this spring, I have come realization that although my road saddle, Selle Itallia Storika, is not that forgiving, my first pair of bib shorts have tuckered out. I eagerly await my new ones. Thanks to Kim at Castelli, I now have a pair of Y Pro bibs on the way! If the Y Pro's are half as good as Cole talks them up to be, they will be great :-) Saddness though insues with the loss of "Hokies" stenciled across my upper rear end.

Have I mentioned how much I stand behind and in bib shorts for road riding?! They are simply great! If you thought chamois shorts were nice... give the bibs a try. More comfort through a less restrictive waist line and better support via the shoulder straps.

Alas, there are still some mountain biking days when I prefer just the shorts rather than bibs. Not sure why... just a different style of riding, I guess.

Anyway, just knowing I have ridden enough to wear out a pair a shorts / bibs... there's a certain sense of achievement.

Two Good Reasons to Ride

Mountains of Misery - http://www.cyclingdoubleheader.com/

Shenandoah 100 - http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm

Orders back up for Nite Owls and Noodle Salad

Supressed for a wee bit, the Tuesday / Thursday Nite Owl Noodle Salad night mountain bike rides should be back on. Tuesday's and Thursday's, the Whale and the leprechaun meet at about 8:15 pm and do some local in-town trail riding. Watch out, though, this beginner ride has turned more intermediate due to extending ride time. We are now shooting for about 45 minutes to an hour of riding mountain bikes in the dark and generally having a good time. -- Who says nite riding is only for non-daylite savings time!?

Trail Friends

"Why does Happy Flow? I don't know. Why do people breathe?" - Gay Gay Fin

the new moon

ah darkness and singletrack.

another successful nite owl / noodle salad ride :-)

mixing it Mill Mtn trail style this time.
back to the climbing.

no bloggs??

hmmmm. some things are better left mysterious..

evad

spelling error

Yeah, the leprechaun has been misspelling leprechaun.

summer weather ride on monday

i already had a road ride planned. the weather was a bonus.

the idea was for at least 2 hours but more as time, mind, and body allowed. the total.. just over three hours (50 miles and some change). that's right. i finally broke over 200 miles on my serotta nove.

i rode through town out 11 to mountain pass road. once on the parkway, i headed back towards town knowing i could vary the ending with how i felt. with some extra water, i made it to poage valley underpass and descended back into town.

Thanks to Mark of North Carolina. Mark was in town for a meeting and getting some parkway miles on his Campy equipped Trek 5200 with freshly added FSA compact carbon cranks. Anyhow, running low on H2O, I spied Mark's gallon of water as he was loading up his gear. He graciously shared some water and bicycle conversation.

Speaking of Mark's... the fire monkey was missed today.

groceries and toilet paper

does anyone else feel the irony of buying toilet paper with your groceries?

big steak omelette

that's right.. friday nite's ride got better. big steak omlette style.

yup. the omelette and the pancakes too. it's a sight to see.

don't get between the leprichaun and the big steak omelette.

for the visual.. (of just the omelette... not the leprichaun)
page 2 of IHOP's menu http://www.ihop.com/menu-new3.pdf

I did ride.. in shorts and short sleeves

It's 21:45 (quarter to ten for some folks). I'm just finishing up my nite ride :-)

Nothing like a little Mill Mountain Trail action on a warm March Friday nite.

The ride was especially great since I managed to exercise the ghost shifting that haunted last Tuesday's Noodle Salad - Nite Owl ride.

The nite air, the view, the rush of air, brush of trees, howling of the red wolves of the zoo...

maybe only a 29'er might have made it better.

hmmm.... well maybe a big steak omelette too. (the leprichaun can through down some food.)

the birds...

I should be riding my bike right now. Maybe tonight.

Anyone else notice the increase in bird actitivity?
Either spring is here or Alferd Hitchcock needs to get his cameras ready.

failed posting

sorry. tried to post a pic of me in my pre East Coasters days. technical difficulties prevented me from getting the job done. maybe i'll be able to post pics another day.

2 liter pontoon boat and first bicycle trip

So last week while riding to work, I couldn't help but see a bunch of 2 liter bottles (it was recycle day... not trash in the streets). The bottles jogged memory from way back. I was part of the creation of a small boat whose pontoons consisted of 2 liter bottles. One bottle encircled on the sides by more bottles (sides touching) with a pontoon length of about 5 feet.

Yes, the boat worked. It handled slow in the steering, but it worked.

So, anyway, the leader of this boat creation crew was also responsible for my first bicycle trip. From somewhere just South of Omaha, NE, we journyed to Platte River State Park and back. I remember having a buffalo burger and being towed part of the way back via a bike lock cable. My steed... my first 'road' bike, purchased from a hardware store. I remember it was blue and heavy. I also remember riding to work a few times or more. That was 1990 or so. I was in high school and worked at Hy-Vee grocery.

Order Up for Night Owls and Noodle Salad

After time off for illness and radiator repairs on a four wheel object, the Tuesday Nite Owl Noodle Salad mountain night ride returns.

Meeting Tuesday nights at 8 pm at James Glass Saab, 1501 Cleveland Ave, the Whale and the Leprichaun will head out for a little local nite trail riding action. We're usually back by 10 pm.

new heights

I fit inside the mop bucket box today. Nuff said.

6 Volts - 3 Watts

That's right! Today is the inaugural ride of the generator hub!

Kicking a raw 2.4 watts of headlamp action in the front and a massive 0.6 watts lighting up the back! (it's actually pretty effective.)

Every time the front wheel spins.... Ohhhh yeah.

Generator Hub Wheel Update

Sigh. I thought the lacing looked a little not quite right. Although all the spokes are in laced in the correct holes and the wheel is correctly true and tensioned, the lace pattern is a little off. Seems I went over-under-over rather than over-over-under. Sigh. The good news is that for the most part, the wheel is still good to use. However, the extra strain on the spokes and spoke heads will shorten the life of the spokes. Good thing I'm light weight. The wheel should hold for a little while at least, but will need to be entirely relaced when the first spoke goes. Sigh. It's good practice for me, though, and good lesson to learn as I develop my skills.

I've installed the rear light and have started on the wiring. Hopefully, I'll be riding generator hub style by the end of the week!